The lawsuit of one of Vietnam's richest businessmen against the Finance Department in Lam Dong Province for taking back 11 villas that his company had leased to build a resort has been dismissed by the provincial court.

The decision was handed down by the Lam Dong People's Court at a trial on May 6, eight months after Doan Nguyen Duc, chairman of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group, submitted his petition.

According to Hoang Anh Gia Lai, the company in 2002 planned to develop 20 old villas in the resort town of Da Lat into a four-star resort. The company signed a contract with Lam Dong Province Finance Department to lease the properties, with a total area of nearly 46,000 square meters, for 50 years.

In September 2009, the province decided to take back 11 of the villas and assigned them to another company in Ho Chi Minh City.

Lawyer Le Thi Hoai Giang, legal representative for Hoang Anh Gia Lai, said the company demands that the Lam Dong Province's Finance Department fulfills its contract. In case the contract is terminated by the department, all financial obligations have to be paid, she said.

The Finance Department, however, saidthat the decision to take back the villas was made in accordance with regulations.

It contended that the resort project had been unduly delayed and the condition of the villas had deteriorated.